Rack



July 24, 1923. 31,462,542

. w. A. HAMMOND RACK Filed March a, 1923? mm-I INVENTORL IK/4H Patented July 24, 1923.

UNITED STATES WILLIAM A. HAMMOND, OF SAN FRANCISCO, CALIFOR RACK.

Application filed March 8, 1923. Serial No. 628,760.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that 1, WILLIAM A. HAM- MOND, a citizen of the United States, and a resident of San Francisco, county of San Francisco, State of California, have invented a new and useful Rack, of which the following is a specification.

The present invention relates to improve ments in racks designed to be used in the game of mah-jongg. In this gamea large plurality of small rectangular blocks, commonly called tiles, are arranged in rows with the faces of the tiles visible to one of the players but not to his opponents. It also becomes necessary in this game to pile up a large plurality of these tiles in two long rows placed on top of one another so as to form what is known 'in the rules of the game as a wall. For the convenient handling of these tiles by the player so that they may be moved about without disturbing the general arrangement racks of various designs have been employed and it is the object of the present invention to disclose a form of rack that has been found particularly adapted for this purpose The principal advantages of the device Wlll appear as the specification proceeds.

The preferred form of the invention is illustrated in the accompanying drawlng m which Figure 1 shows a perspective view of my rack with a number of tiles placed thereon, Figure 2 a vertical section through the same and Figure 3 a section similar to that of Figure 2 with the device turned on its back. While I have shown only the preferred form of the invention it should be understood that various changes or modifications may be made within the scope of the claims hereto attached without departing from the spirit of the invention.

In its principal features my rack (1) 1s made of a substantial block of solid material such as wood and of considerable length. Its base (2) is provided with two marginal runners (3) adapted to engage the sup orting surface of a table or the like. In t e front of the rack a ledge (4) is provided adapted to receive a plurality of tiles (5) and to have the same arranged thereon in the manner shown in Figure 1 with .the tops of the tiles projecting a short distance above the top edge (6) of the rack. Particular attention is called to the factthat the seat (7) formed by the ledge is not horizontal but slants downwardly from the front edge of the ledge while the front edge (8) of the rack above the seat (7) slants backwardl so as to form a right angle with the seat 7) and so as to allow the tiles to lie on the ledge in a slightly reclined position as shown in Figure 2. The top face (9) of my rack slants downwardly from its front edge whereby the handling of the tiles is facilitated in so far as it allows of the easy grasping of the individual tiles between the thumb and one finger.

The principal feature of the present invention is the arrangement of the rear face (11) which latter is made inclined so as to be substantially parallel to the front face (8) thus allowing the whole rack to be turned over to rest on the rear face in a manner shown in Figure 3 without disturbing the arrangement of the tiles. This is an essential feature since at the end of the game it becomes necessary for the player to expose his tiles to be viewed by his opponents and for this purpose he usually turns the rack over in the manner shown in Figure 3. Where the rear face (11) is not substantially parallel to the front face (8) on which the tiles rest it is impossible to turn the whole device into the position shown in Figure 3 without disturbing the arrangement of the tiles. In fact as atpresent used as soon as the rack is turned over for the purpose of showing the face of the tiles to the opponent the tiles drop from the seat as soon as the player lets go of the rack.

The advantages of my rack will be readily understood from the foregoing description. After the tiles have been arranged in two rows on top of one another the rear face may be used to straighten out the tiles into a wall and to advance the wall as a unit over the table to form a square with three other cooperating walls used by the opponents. The fact that the rear wall (11) is slightly slanting causes the upper row of tiles to slightly project beyond the lower row which how-' ever in no way interferes with the progress of the ame. After the walls have been assembled certain of the tiles are placed by the players on the ledge (4) with the face turned toward the player and hidden from the opponents. The particular arrangement of my ledge allows of the easy removal of any single one of the tiles without disturbing the others and without causing accidental moving orv slipping of the rack over the surface of the table due to the compactness and solid structure of the rack. After the end of the game has been reached and it becomes necessary to exiiose the faces of thetiles to the pp P grasp the rack at either or both ends and to turn it over so as to lie on its back when the faces of ,the tiles will be exposed on top. Due to the fact that the faces (8) and (11) are substantially parallel this turning move-.

ment can be carried out without-disturb in the arrangement of the tiles.

claim:

1. A rack for tiles of the character de-" scribed, comprising an elongated block of material havin an inclined frontal ledge and an incline front face above the same allowing the tiles to rest on the led e and the front face a slightly recline posi- I ayers it is only necessary to tion and a back face substantially arallel to the front face allowing the rec to be turned on the same without disturbing the tile arrangement.

2. A rack of tiles of the character de scribed, comprising an elongated block of material havin an inclined frontal ledge and an incline allowing the tiles to rest on the led e and the front face in a slightly recline ed e of the front .face, a back face substanthe rack to be turned on the same without disturbing the tile arrangement and a top face slanting downwardly from the front edge allowing of. the easy removal of the tiles.

WILLIAM A. HAMMOND.

front face above the same t P .tion with the tlles pro ect1ng above the top 

